The Disney World park hours were recently updated for the month of December, with operating hours extended for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are now a handful of days where the Magic Kingdom is open until 12am and even 1am with a second Main Street Electrical Parade added.

Hollywood Studios also had quite a few days changed, and will now stay open until 9 or 10pm occasionally. Those days will also see an additional showing of Fantasmic!. Animal Kingdom had many closing times adjusted as well.

The chart below shows all current park hours with changes in red.

You may notice changes to our Crowd Calendar involving some of the changed dates. We recently began using our own internal projected park hours to give you the most accurate crowd ratings available. Using these projected hours has made our long-term crowd ratings more stable, but we are not perfect (well, some of us). Should any major changes occur to our Crowd Calendar, I will update this post with explanations. If you have questions, please feel free to post them in the comments below.

One period that will not change is the period around Christmas. It was expected to be very busy as always, and the updated hours indicate that will come to pass. If you are going to be there during that time, make sure you get to the park before it opens and use a Touring Plan.

Another day of note is Wednesday, December 5 at the Magic Kingdom. The official opening of the Fantasyland expansion is the following day, December 6, with the media preview on the 5th. Because of this media preview, the Magic Kingdom has actually done a rare thing and shortened its operating hours, now closing at 7pm. In another rare move, it has rescheduled Wishes, the fireworks spectacular, to the odd time of 6pm on December 5.

Thanks!

WDW December Park Hours Updated is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here at TouringPlans.com we spend a lot of time honing our predictions to make our Crowd Calendar the most accurate available. One of the many methods we employ is projecting park hours for all of Disney’s Florida theme parks. You may be wondering why we bother since Disney World publishes its park hours for all to see. Well, Disney does not always make things easy (as outlined here).

The published hours are available for the next six months (currently through May), but they are simply preliminary hours. Disney doesn’t create an operational schedule for its employees that far in advance. Using things like hotel occupancy rates and dining reservations, Disney reviews all hours for a given month approximately two weeks prior to the start of that month (for instance, December’s adjusted hours should be released on or around November 12) and makes changes to its park hours.

How often are park hours changed two weeks before the start of a month? This post will give you idea of what to expect when February hours are adjusted. And the chart below shows what the final park hours were for Walt Disney World in February 2012.

The numbers in red are February 2012 dates that changed when park hours were adjusted in mid-January last year.

There are a few things you should notice about this chart:

• As mentioned above, these are the final park hours from last year (I want to make that very clear); final hours for this February (2013) have not yet been released.
• The third week (or so) in February (16-23 in 2013) is President’s Day week and tends to be quite a bit busier than the surrounding days. The park hours are expected to reflect this.
• The opening times for all parks change very rarely (with the obvious exception being during the busy President’s Day week).
• Epcot times change very, very rarely (which is why they are not listed).
• Wishes is performed once per night, and changes are very rare, so we have not listed Wishes because of this.
• The days that have Extra Magic Hours almost never change.
• Closing times for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as the number of performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!, are the most variable.
• Fantasmic! and the Main Street Electrical Parade were both undergoing refurbishment in February 2012, which is why there are big periods of inactivity. Barring something unforeseen, that will not be the case in 2013.

So the real question is: what you should expect for this year? Since we started actively tracking park hour changes, we have noticed that the previous year is quite a good predictor of the upcoming changes. We do make some adjustments for our internal calculations, but the chart above should give you a good idea for planning purposes.

One thing to remember is to compare days of the week rather than numerical dates. For instance, if you are traveling from Saturday, February 9, through Saturday, February 16, 2013 you would look at the second Saturday through the third Saturday from last year (February 11-18, 2012). Please also keep in mind that this chart is one of many references for you to use in planning your trip and is not necessarily the exact operating times.

I hope you find this information useful. As you may have guessed by now, this is going to be a regular feature. I am still in the process of “catching up” to the currently available Walt Disney World calendar (currently through May). Once I have caught it, I will post these as the new preliminary hours are released.

Thanks!

WDW Park Hours: What to Expect in February 2013 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

The operating hours for November were updated last week for Walt Disney World. Today, a few more changes were made to the schedule, and these changes will definitely have an effect on the TouringPlans.com Crowd Calendar. The adjusted days are:

• Tuesday, November 6: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Wednesday, November 7: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Thursday, November 8: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Tuesday, November 13: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Wednesday, November 14: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Saturday, November 17: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 1am
• Sunday, November 18: The Magic Kingdom will now be open from 8am until 12am

These changes are significant because it is very rare for an off-season, non-holiday, mid-week day to have such long operating hours. Each of these days is an Annual Passholder preview day for New Fantasyland, which I am sure is not a coincedence. In addition, they encompass parts of the Veteran’s Day holiday and “Jersey Week,” when many New Jersey schools are off.

As you may guess, these days are expected to have higher crowds than normal mid-week, mid-November days. Within the next day or two, you will see increases in the Crowd Calendar for most, if not all, of these days. The good news is that the early hours (8am until 10 or 11am) and the late hours (after 10pm) will be good touring times. As always, starting at park opening and operating with a Touring Plan will offset any increased crowd activity.

Magic Kingdom Operating Hours Extended for Select Days in November is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

The Disney World park hours were recently updated for October 28 through November 30, with operating hours extended for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are now a handful of days where the Magic Kingdom is open until 12am with a second Main Street Electrical Parade added.

Hollywood Studios also had quite a few days changed, and will now stay open until 9 or 10pm occasionally. Those days will also see an additional showing of Fantasmic!. Animal Kingdom had many closing times adjusted as well.

The chart below shows all current park hours with changes in red.

You may notice changes to our Crowd Calendar involving some of the changed dates. We recently began using our own internal projected park hours to give you the most accurate crowd ratings available. Using these projected hours has made our long-term crowd ratings more stable, but we are not perfect (well, some of us). Should any major changes occur to our Crowd Calendar, I will update this post with explanations.

One period that will not change is Thanksgiving week. It was expected to be very busy as always, and the updated hours indicate that will come to pass. If you are going to be there during that week, make sure you get to the park before it opens and use a Touring Plan.

Thanks!

WDW November Park Hours Updated is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

The Disney World park hours were recently updated for September 30 through October 27, with operating hours extended for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are now a handful of days where the Magic Kingdom is open until 12am with a second Main Street Electrical Parade added.

Hollywood Studios also had quite a few days changed, and will now stay open until 9 or 9:30pm occasionally. Those days will also see an additional showing of Fantasmic!. Animal Kingdom had many closing times adjusted as well.

The chart below shows all current park hours with changes in red.

You may notice changes to our Crowd Calendar involving some of the changed dates. We recently began using our own internal projected park hours to give you the most accurate crowd ratings available. Using these projected hours has made our long-term crowd ratings more stable, but we are not perfect (well, some of us).

Even with our projections, there were some changes to the Crowd Calendar for October:

October 18:

Animal Kingdom’s crowd rating was increased from 1.4 to 5.3 – This is due to the closing time being moved from 5pm to 7pm. We expected closing to remain at 5pm as it did on the equivalent day last year (October 20, 2011). The increase to 7pm indicates that Disney is expecting a larger crowd on this day.

October 19:

Magic Kingdom’s crowd rating was increased from 4.6 to 7.6 – This is due to the addition of 2 Main Street Electrical Parades where there were previously none. It is less common for Disney to add parades where none had previously been scheduled, indicating that higher crowds are expected.

Animal Kingdom’s crowd rating was increased from 3.2 to 7.0 – This is due to the closing time being moved from 6pm to 8pm. We expected closing to remain at 6pm as it did on the equivalent day last year (October 21, 2011). The increase to 8pm indicates that Disney is expecting a larger crowd on this day and specifically keeping the park open until 8pm is odd in the off season. Typically 8pm or later closings only occur at Animal Kingdom at busy times.

October 20:

Animal Kingdom’s crowd rating was increased from 3.1 to 6.9 – This is due to the closing time being moved from 6pm to 8pm and the rationale is exactly the same as for October 19 above.

October 25:

Hollywood Studios’ crowd rating was decreased from 6.0 to 1.1 – Finally, a good change! This is due to the closing time being 6pm with no showings of Fantasmic!. I am unsure of the reason for the early closing but it is typically for a private special event. Regardless, short park days often have very low crowds as many do not want to go to a park with shorter operating hours.

We apologize for the changes, although one thing you should be aware of is that Disney sometimes announces extended operating hours on the actual day of operation. Saturdays in particular tend to be prime candidate for last minute extensions. These extensions are not necessarily something that can be planned around, but you should be aware that they are possible. We will make sure to keep you updated on all changes.

Thanks!

WDW October Park Hours Updated! is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here at TouringPlans.com we spend a lot of time honing our predictions to make our Crowd Calendar the most accurate available. One of the many methods we employ is projecting park hours for all of Disney’s Florida theme parks. You may be wondering why we bother since Disney World publishes its park hours for all to see. Well, Disney does not always make things easy (as outlined here).

The published hours are available for the next six months (currently through March), but they are simply preliminary hours. Disney doesn’t create an operational schedule for its employees that far in advance. Using things like hotel occupancy rates and dining reservations, Disney reviews all hours for a given month approximately two weeks prior to the start of that month (for instance, October’s adjusted hours should be released on or around September 17) and makes changes to its park hours.

How often are park hours changed two weeks before the start of a month? This post will give you idea of what to expect when January hours are adjusted. And the chart below shows what the final park hours were for Walt Disney World in January 2012.

The numbers in red are January 2012 dates that changed when park hours were adjusted in mid-December last year.

There are a few things you should notice about this chart:

• As mentioned above, these are the final park hours from last year (I want to make that very clear); final hours for this January (2013) have not yet been released.
• The second weekend in January (10th-13th in 2013) is the Walt Disney World Marathon and tends to be a busier weekend than the surrounding days. The park hours are expected to reflect this.
• The opening times for all parks change very rarely (with the obvious exception being during the busy Christmas and New Year period).
• Epcot times change very, very rarely (which is why they are not listed).
• Wishes is performed once per night, and changes are very rare, so we have not listed Wishes because of this.
• The days that have Extra Magic Hours almost never change.
• Closing times for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as the number of performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!, are the most variable.
• Fantasmic! and the Main Street Electrical Parade were both undergoing refurbishment in January 2012, which is why there are big periods of inactivity. Barring something unforeseen, that will not be the case in 2013.
• January has many peaks and valleys as seen by the sporadic red on that chart, and that makes it a tricky month to predict. One thing you should be aware of is that Disney has been reluctant this summer to extend the Magic Kingdom’s closing time to the extremes, such as 1am (like on January 13, 2012). 11pm closings are becoming more normal rather than those very late weekend nights.

So the real question is what you should expect for this year. Since we started actively tracking park hour changes, we have noticed that the previous year is quite a good predictor of the upcoming changes. We do make some adjustments for our internal calculations, but the chart above should give you a good idea for planning purposes.

One thing to remember is to compare days of the week rather than numerical dates. For instance, if you are traveling from Saturday, January 12, through Saturday, January 19, 2013 you would look at the second Saturday through the third Saturday from last year (January 14-21, 2012). Please also keep in mind that this chart is one of many references for you to use in planning your trip and is not necessarily the exact operating times.

I hope you find this information useful. As you may have guessed by now, this is going to be a regular feature. I am still in the process of “catching up” to the currently available Walt Disney World calendar (currently through March). Once I have caught it, I will post these as the new preliminary hours are released.

Thanks!

WDW Park Hours: What to Expect in January 2013 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here at TouringPlans.com we spend a lot of time honing our predictions to make our Crowd Calendar the most accurate available. One of the many methods we employ is projecting park hours for all of Disney’s Florida theme parks. You may be wondering why we bother since Disney World publishes its park hours for all to see. Well, Disney does not always make things easy (as outlined here).

The published hours are available for the next six months (currently through March), but they are simply preliminary hours. Disney doesn’t create an operational schedule for its employees that far in advance. Using things like hotel occupancy rates and dining reservations, Disney reviews all hours for a given month approximately two weeks prior to the start of that month (for instance, October’s adjusted hours should be released on or around September 17) and makes changes to its park hours.

How often are park hours changed two weeks before the start of a month? This post will give you idea of what to expect when December hours are adjusted. And the chart below shows what the final park hours were for Walt Disney World in December 2011.

The numbers in red are December 2011 dates that changed when park hours were adjusted in mid-November last year.

There are a few things you should notice about this chart:

• As mentioned above, these are the final park hours from last year (I want to make that very clear); final hours for this December (2012) have not yet been released.
• The period starting Christmas week and carrying through New Years is very, very busy, which is why the hours were all expanded last year during that week. You can expect similar long days this year as well as similar crowd levels.
• The opening times for all parks change very rarely (with the obvious exception being during the busy Christmas and New Year period).
• Epcot times change very, very rarely (which is why they are not listed).
• Speaking of Epcot, the preliminary hours for that park show it will be open until 9:30pm (instead of the usual 9pm) during the entire month. I do not expect that time to change except for New Year’s Eve, which will probably change to 1am.
• Wishes is performed once per night, except on days where there is a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (December 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 2012). Changes in December are very rare, so we have not listed Wishes because of this.
• The days that have Extra Magic Hours almost never change.
• Closing times for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as the number of performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!, are highly variable at peak times.
• Early December has many peaks and valleys as seen by the sporadic red on that chart, and that makes it a tricky month to predict. The end of the month is easy to predict because Disney will push the hours to thier limits to accommodate the massive crowds. One thing you should be aware of is that Disney has been reluctant this summer to extend the Magic Kingdom’s closing time to the extremes, such as 1am (like on December 3, 2011). 11pm closings are becoming more normal rather than those very late weekend nights (not applicable to Christmas and New Years week).

So the real question is what you should expect for this year. Since we started actively tracking park hour changes, we have noticed that the previous year is quite a good predictor of the upcoming changes. We do make some adjustments for our internal calculations, but the chart above should give you a good idea for planning purposes.

One thing to remember is to compare days of the week rather than numerical dates. For instance, if you are traveling from Sunday, December 9, through Saturday, December 15, 2012 you would look at the second Sunday through the third Saturday from last year (December 11-17, 2011). Please also keep in mind that this chart is one of many references for you to use in planning your trip and is not necessarily the exact operating times.

I hope you find this information useful. As you may have guessed by now, this is going to be a regular feature. I am still in the process of “catching up” to the currently available Walt Disney World calendar (currently through March). Once I have caught it, I will post these as the new preliminary hours are released.

Thanks!

WDW Park Hours: What to Expect in December is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

The Disney World park hours were recently updated for September, with operating hours extended for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are now a handful of days where the Magic Kingdom is open until 11pm with a second Main Street Electrical Parade added.

Hollywood Studios also had a few days changed, and will now stay open until 10pm occasionally. Those days will also see an additional showing of Fantasmic!. Animal Kingdom had a few closing times adjusted as well.

The chart below shows all current park hours with changes in red.

There have also been several minor changes to various days in October and November. Please check the park hours listed right here on TouringPlans.com for all of the latest hours.

You may notice minor changes to our Crowd Calendar involving some of the changed dates. We recently began using our own internal projected park hours to give you the most accurate crowd ratings available. Using these projected hours has made our long-term crowd ratings more stable, but we are not perfect (well, some of us).

We apologize for the changes, although one thing you should be aware of is that Disney sometimes announces extended operating hours on the actual day of operation. Saturdays in particular tend to be prime candidate for last minute extensions. These extensions are not necessarily something that can be planned around, but you should be aware that they are possible. We will make sure to keep you updated on all changes.

WDW September Park Hours Updated! is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here at TouringPlans.com we spend a lot of time honing our predictions to make our Crowd Calendar the most accurate available. One of the many methods we employ is projecting park hours for all of Disney’s Florida theme parks. You may be wondering why we bother since Disney World publishes its park hours for all to see. Well, Disney does not always make things easy (as outlined here).

The published hours are available for the next six months (currently through February), but they are simply preliminary hours. Disney doesn’t create an operational schedule for its employees that far in advance. Using things like hotel occupancy rates and dining reservations, Disney reviews all hours for a given month approximately two weeks prior to the start of that month (for instance, September’s adjusted hours should be released on or around August 20) and makes changes to its park hours.

How often are park hours changed two weeks before the start of a month? This post will give you idea of what to expect when November hours are adjusted. And the chart below shows what the final park hours were for Walt Disney World in November 2011.

The numbers in red are November 2011 dates that changed when park hours were adjusted in mid-October last year.

There are a few things you should notice about this chart:

• As mentioned above, these are the final park hours from last year (I want to make that very clear); final hours for this November (2012) have not yet been released.
• Thanksgiving week is very busy, which is why the hours were all expanded last year during that week. You can expect similar long days this year as well as similar crowd levels.
• The opening times for all parks change very, very rarely (with the obvious exception being during the busy Thanksgiving period).
• Epcot times change very, very rarely (which is why they are not listed).
• Speaking of Epcot, the preliminary hours for that park show it will be open until 10pm (instead of the usual 9pm) on Fridays and Saturdays in the beginning of November for the Food  & Wine Festival. Preliminary 2012 hours also show that Epcot will be open until 9:30pm during Thanksgiving week.
• Wishes is performed once per night, except on days where there is a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (November 1, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 27, 29, 30, 2012). Changes in November are very rare, so we have not listed Wishes because of this.
• The days that have Extra Magic Hours almost never change.
• Closing times for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as the number of performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!, are highly variable at peak times.
• November  has many peaks and valleys as seen by the sporadic red on that chart, and that makes it a tricky month to predict. One thing you should be aware of is that Disney has been reluctant this summer to extend the Magic Kingdom’s closing time to the extremes, such as 12am (like on November 5 and 12, 2011). 11pm closings are becoming more normal rather than those very late weekend nights.

So the real question is what you should expect for this year. Since we started actively tracking park hour changes, we have noticed that the previous year is quite a good predictor of the upcoming changes. We do make some adjustments for our internal calculations, but the chart above should give you a good idea for planning purposes.

One thing to remember is to compare days of the week rather than numerical dates. For instance, if you are traveling from Sunday, November 4, through Saturday, November 10, 2012 you would look at the first Sunday through the second Saturday from last year (November 6-12, 2011). Please also keep in mind that this chart is one of many references for you to use in planning your trip and is not necessarily the exact operating times.

I hope you find this information useful. As you may have guessed by now, this is going to be a regular feature. I am still in the process of “catching up” to the currently available Walt Disney World calendar (currently through February). Once I have caught it, I will post these as the new preliminary hours are released.

Thanks!

WDW Park Hours: What to Expect in November is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here at TouringPlans.com we spend a lot of time honing our predictions to make our Crowd Calendar the most accurate available. One of the many methods we employ is projecting park hours for all of Disney’s Florida theme parks. You may be wondering why we bother since Disney World publishes its park hours for all to see. Well, Disney does not always make things easy (as outlined here).

The published hours are available for the next six months (currently through February), but they are simply preliminary hours. Disney doesn’t create an operational schedule for its employees that far in advance. Using things like hotel occupancy rates and dining reservations, Disney reviews all hours for a given month approximately two weeks prior to the start of that month (for instance, September’s adjusted hours should be released on or around August 20) and makes changes to its park hours.

How often are park hours changed two weeks before the start of a month? This post will give you idea of what to expect when October hours are adjusted. And the chart below shows what the final park hours were for Walt Disney World in October 2011.

The numbers in red are October 2011 dates that changed when park hours were adjusted in mid-September last year.

There are a few things you should notice about this chart:

• As mentioned above, these are the final park hours from last year (I want to make that very clear); final hours for this October (2012) have not yet been released.
• The opening times for all parks change very, very rarely (only three days last October).
• Epcot times change very, very rarely (which is why they are not listed).
• Speaking of Epcot, the preliminary hours for that park show it will be open until 10pm (instead of the usual 9pm) on Fridays and Saturdays in October for the Food  & Wine Festival.
• Wishes is performed once per night, except on days where there is a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (October 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30, and 31, 2012). Changes in October are very rare, so we have not listed Wishes because of this.
• The days that have Extra Magic Hours almost never change.
• Closing times for the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as the number of performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!, are highly variable at peak times.
• October  has many peaks and valleys as seen by the sporadic red on that chart, and that makes it a tricky month to predict. One thing you should be aware of is that Disney has been reluctant this summer to extend the Magic Kingdom’s closing time to the extremes, such as 1am (like on October 22, 2011). 11pm closings are becoming more normal rather than those very late weekend nights.

So the real question is what you should expect for this year. Since we started actively tracking park hour changes, we have noticed that the previous year is quite a good predictor of the upcoming changes. We do make some adjustments for our internal calculations, but the chart above should give you a good idea for planning purposes.

One thing to remember is to compare days of the week rather than numerical dates. For instance, if you are traveling from Sunday, October 14, through Saturday, October 20, 2012 you would look at the second Sunday through the third Saturday from last year (September 9-15, 2011). Please also keep in mind that this chart is one of many references for you to use in planning your trip and is not necessarily the exact operating times.

I hope you find this information useful. As you may have guessed by now, this is going to be a regular feature. I am still in the process of “catching up” to the currently available Walt Disney World calendar (currently through February). Once I have caught it, I will post these as the new preliminary hours are released.

Thanks!

WDW Park Hours: What to Expect in October is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.